We recently connected with Aubrie Simpson-Gotham and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Aubrie, thanks for joining us today. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job
Prior to founding Fostering Connections, I was an educator for three years in preschool and elementary school classrooms. Through my work as teacher, I learned the importance of building relationships and having a positive work environment to achieve success for your organization. As a beginning teacher, I had the challenge of teaching at schools that placed a great emphasis on student test scores and a minimal focus on building relationships with other teachers, students , and parents. This leadership cultural created an environment of fear and hostility amongst staff and caused a spike in student behavioral difficulties due to the academic requirements not matching their developmental level. It was a work environment difficult to thrive in. Often, I left my job most days feeling discouraged and defeated.
I have applied the lessons I learned in my teaching career to leading Fostering Connections. At the core of our organization, our focus is always on our mission and building relationships. I live with a Givers Gain mindset, focusing each day how I can add value to each person on our team. When I first connect with a potential staff member, board member, client, community partner, or donor, , I always meet them where they are and put building relationships first before we begin to work together. It is important to understand what the goals of the individual you are working with are, that they share a passion for your mission, and that they understand your organization’s goals and how they can help achieve them.. This is critical so both parties can work together to achieve success for both the individual and the organization.. When you support others, they will support your organization in return. By focusing on relationship building and the mission, I have built a strong, growing team and organization.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Foster care has always been a cause dear to my heart. Several people in my life planted seeds to inspire me to found Fostering Connections. My dad’s father passed away tragically when he has an infant.
His father’s death led to a relative foster care placement for my dad for a short period of time and childhood of poverty and trauma for my dad and his family. My dad overcame numerous obstacles from the trauma he experienced as a child and had led a happy, successful adult life. His story first inspired me to help children who have been impacted by foster care or trauma.
In college, I met a friend who had spent the majority of her childhood in foster care. She shared with me the huge need for support services for kids in foster care. I wanted to help, but at that time there was limited information online about how to support kids in foster care. After college graduation, I became a kindergarten teacher at a high-poverty school. I had several kids that were in foster care and many who had experienced trauma. One student I had was being raised by his grandparents and was really struggling in school. I saw firsthand how trauma impacted learning for children and how limited services were for children impacted by foster care or trauma. This experience drove me even further to do more to help.
I got involved volunteering in the community with a variety of nonprofit organizations to learn more about community resources and how I could help. I worked for a nonprofit family visitation center assisting with fundraising, in which I learned about the funding structure for programs for children in care. After seeing that there were no local organizations that provided support services to children in care or who had experienced foster care, I got together with some friends in February 2019 and founded Fostering Connections St. Johns.
We started only serving only St. Johns County since it is the only county in Florida to have its foster care program managed by the county. Since our founding, we have been able to expand our service to Duval, Putnam, Flagler, and Volusia Counties. In 2022, we changed our name to Fostering Connections to reflect that we now serve multiple counties around north Florida.
Fostering Connections is a nonprofit organization that provides educational programs and enrichment grants for youth impacted by foster care or trauma to help them have the tools and resources they need to achieve their goals and thrive in life. We serve youth in in grades Pre-K-12 in St. Johns, Duval, Putnam, Flagler, and Volusia Counties.
We offer educational programs focusing on leadership development, life skills, career readiness, and postsecondary education planning, Our programs are trauma informed and designed to meet the developmental learning needs of each youth,. In grades Pre-K-2, we focus on helping students develop their talents and supporting their caregivers. For grades 6-8, our focus for our educational programs is leadership development and career exploration. Our educational programs for grades 9-12 focus on Career Readiness and postsecondary education planning. For caregivers, we provide family meet up opportunities and resources to help support them in their parenting journey. Our enrichment grants focus on educational technology, enrichment opportunities, summer camp scholarships, educational milestones, and keys to independence. to provide our clients the opportunity to achieve their educational goals , celebrate educational milestones, and develop their talents.
Fostering Connections is the only organization in northeast Florida that provides enrichment scholarships and comprehensive educational programs to children impacted by foster care or trauma of all different ages. We fill a critical gap in educational support services , employment training , and life skills training that isn’t filled by foster care agencies and schools. 20% of youth who age out of foster care become immediately homeless. Only 46% of former foster youth are employed by age 26. and only 3% earn a Bachelor’s degree. The average size of their social network is only 7 people. Fostering Connections equips our clients with a toolbox of resources they need to help them thrive in life.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
A lesson I had to unlearn was to not be afraid to ask for help. In my previous career as an educator, there was a very punitive evaluation system in place that created a very hostile working environment. I was always afraid that asking for help would give me a poor evaluation rating or create a burden for others. As a result, I began to draw inward, collaborating less with coworkers , and not asking for help from others. I relied heavily on myself to solve each issue that I encountered. When I transitioned to a career in the nonprofit sector, I saw how collaborating with others was the key to be a successful leader. I had to change my mindset and not being afraid to ask for others. It was important to me to build a culture of collaboration within Fostering Connections. I did this through networking with other nonprofit and business leaders on a regular basis. Over time, I built relationships and formed a wide network of individuals that are the best in their professions that I can consult when I encounter a situation that is outside of my area of expertise. I have mentors that I meet with on a regular basis for advice and I am also a mentor to others that are just getting started in their nonprofit leadership journey. I have learned that it is impossible to be good at everything. We were never meant to work alone. Each individual has gifts and talents to share with the world. I have learned from many leaders and other leaders have learned from me. It is inspiring to see lives changed and our community impact grow from the power of relationships and community building.
Have you ever had to pivot?
The COVID-19 pandemic was a season of pivoting for me. I had founded Fostering Connections just one year before. We were finally launching our programming and events when the world had to quarantine. it was very upsetting and frustrating to have all of the projects myself and our board had been working so hard on be canceled. During these challenging circumstances, I looked for ways to continue to serve our clients and began reimagining programs that we had planned to be able to deliver them safely. Social supports are critical for youth, and I wanted to make sure that our clients still had the community to receive much needed services and build relationships in the community.
During 2020, we were still able to host our first Career Readiness Academy with social distancing precautions in place ,held hybrid art enrichment classes, provided much needed school essentials, helped young adults aging out of foster care start their adult life, and brought the holiday fun to families through our Holiday Party boxes.
In a global pandemic, we doubled the number of clients we served and continued to support youth impacted by foster care or trauma. It was rewarding to hear from families how our programs provided much needed support and community during a time of great social isolation.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fosteringconnectionsfl.org
- Instagram: instagram.com/fosteringconnectionsfl
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/fosteringconnectionsfl
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fosteringconnectionsfl
Image Credits
David Steele Photography Sweet Smiles Photography